Haitian immigrants and leaders tell the Springfield News-Sun many of their friends and neighbors fled to surrounding communities as anti-immigrant rhetoric flared up over the past year-plus. But available data analyzed by this news outlet shows many have stayed in Springfield, and some new families have come into the community.
Springfield City School District saw at least 15 new immigrant families register for school since the beginning of January, Pam Shay, director of federal programs for the school district, said at a recent Haitian Coalition meeting. This includes Haitian and non-Haitian families. Some families have come from other states like Minnesota and Kentucky, Shay said.
Immigrant students make up anywhere from 5-40% of the population of an individual district building, Shay said.
Credit: David Sherman, Video Producer | Ismael Mujahid, Reporter
About 20% of the district’s 1,400 students were admitted after 2021 and do not have documents indicating citizenship as of the end of December, Shay said.
Rocking Horse Community Health Center has seen a slight increase in the number of Haitian Creole speaking patients, said Nettie Carter-Smith, director of community relations during a recent Haitian Coalition meeting. One of the most sought out areas of care was obstetrics, she said, with 66 babies being born in December — 29 of whom had families who selected Haitian Creole as their preferred language.
More than 1,300 children have been born to Haitian immigrants in Springfield in the past few years, according to the Clark County Combined Health District.
Public assistance down
Public benefits data paint an incomplete picture of the Haitian immigrant population with federal government changes to Medicaid and other programs limiting eligibility. In July, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes changes to work requirements and increased frequency of Medicaid redetermination, which are checks to ensure an individual still qualifies for the program.
The number of people who selected a Haitian language as their preferred language that applied for Medicaid, refugee assistance and other associated programs decreased steadily from February 2024 to November 2025, the most recent month for which data was available from the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services. In February 2024, there were 6,478 Medicaid applicants, compared to 3,676 in November.
There were 1,714 Haitian Creole speaking refugee assistance applicants in February 2024 and 38 in November. This decrease could mean that the number of new arrivals has gone down, as people can only receive refugee assistance for their first 12 months in the country.
End of TPS
Temporary Protected Status was initially set to end Feb. 3, 2026 after the Biden administration extended it, but the Department of Homeland Security announced an official termination would happen Sept. 2, 2025, saying that conditions in Haiti had improved and its immigrants no longer meet the conditions for TPS.
A federal judge recently ruled that ending TPS was unlawful, blocking the program from ending early, but allowed TPS to expire after Tuesday, Feb. 3. Multiple lawsuits challenging that are ongoing.
Those who enjoyed legal protections under TPS will no longer have status after Tuesday unless they sought and received another form of protection, like asylum. Legal experts have continued to encourage Haitian immigrants to apply for asylum or other statuses under the guidance of a bar-certified attorney.
Aggressive immigration enforcement in Springfield once TPS ends for Haitians has been expected by some, particularly after a group of local advocates met with a representative from Ohio’s Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted’s office last year, who indicated as much. Advocates were encouraged to help people “self-deport” to a “third country.”
Legal experts, like those from Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, have expressed concerns that fears of this could lead to people self deporting and relinquishing their rights to advocate for their own immigration cases.
Following false rumors about Springfield’s Haitian residents during the 2024 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump specifically vowed aggressive immigration actions in Springfield. The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has since been the focus of scrutiny over its methods, especially following recent fatal shootings involving ICE and Border Patrol officers in Minnesota.
BY THE NUMBERS
10,000-15,000: Estimated number of Haitian immigrants in Springfield area.
1,300: Number of children born to Haitian immigrants in Springfield in the past few years, according to the Clark County Combined Health District.
5-40%: Population of immigrant students in Springfield City School District buildings
3,676: Number of people who selected a Haitian language as their preferred language that applied for Medicaid in November, according to Clark County Job and Family Services. This is down from 6,478 in February 2024.
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